Dons pose problems with their big three

STOCKTON - The Pacific men's basketball team will have more sneak peeks at the West Coast Conference over the next 11 days.

Jagdip Dhillon

STOCKTON - The Pacific men's basketball team will have more sneak peeks at the West Coast Conference over the next 11 days.

The Tigers, who already have beaten Saint Mary's and lost at Gonzaga, will play three consecutive games against future conference foes. USF visits Spanos Center at 5 p.m. today riding a five-game winning streak under fifth-year coach Rex Walters. Pacific then will host Santa Clara on Dec. 15 before traveling to Moraga for a rematch with the Gaels on Dec. 19. The Tigers (4-4) will leave the Big West and re-join the WCC next season.

The Dons (5-1) haven't lost since their opener to Stanford. They beat St. John's 81-65 on Sunday at home. Last December, USF beat Pacific 79-69 at War Memorial Gym, but this season the Dons have added junior UCLA transfer guard De'End Parker (19.7 points per game) to go with 6-foot-7 junior forward Cole Dickerson, who leads the nation in rebounding (13.8), and junior point guard Cody Doolin (12.2 points, seven assists).

"They have three players that are playing outstanding and the rest of their guys are feeding off that," Pacific coach Bob Thomason said. "Their role players stay out of the way, hustle and rebound. Our team is starting to get a little confidence, but we don't play with the swagger USF does."

On Tuesday, Pacific beat Nevada 78-72 in overtime with a late comeback in regulation. Thomason said the Tigers can't allow Dickerson to control the interior, which likely would create a huge rebounding edge for the Dons, and the Tigers must limit USF's guards from driving to the basket.

Pacific will stick with its lineup from Tuesday, when senior forward Travis Fulton returned to the starting five and junior forward Ross Rivera came off the bench. Rivera was the Big West Conference sixth man of the year as a sophomore. Rivera, who is second on the team in scoring (10.1 points per game), said he proposed the switch to Thomason after the Gonzaga game on Dec. 1.

"Starting never felt like the right thing for me," Rivera said. "It's made me more relaxed and let me go about doing my thing. I can look at the game for a few minutes and make adjustments based on what the opponent is doing on defense, and it really helps me."

Fulton, who has 24 points on 9-of-11 shooting in the past two games, said he's comfortable playing either role. On Tuesday against the Wolf Pack, Thomason had both on the court in a small-ball look with guards Lorenzo McCloud, Samu Taku and Rodrigo de Souza. Thomason said he likely will employ that lineup against the Dons at some point tonight.